Oaks News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 23, 2007) – Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor’s Rags to Riches, winner of the Las Virgenes (Grade I) at Santa Anita in her stakes debut, and Frank Calabrese’s homebred Dreaming of Anna, winner of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) and the champion 2-year-old filly of 2006, head a record roster of 192 3-year-old fillies nominated to the 133rd running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (GI) at Churchill Downs.

Kentucky Oaks Nomination List >>

The 1 1/8-mile race has, like the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (GI), has been run each year without interruption since 1875 and will be renewed this year on Friday, May 4. The race, traditionally run on the day before the Derby, annually attracts attendance in excess of 100,000. The 2006 renewal drew a crowd of 108,065 – the second-largest attendance figure in Oaks history. The 2005 running of the Kentucky Oaks attracted a record gathering of 111,243.

This year’s Kentucky Oaks nomination total exceeds the record of 191 set in 1986 and matched the following year. It also reflects a significant jump from last year’s total of 160 nominees, which was an increase from the 144 that were made eligible for the race in 2005. This year’s Kentucky Oaks nomination list is the largest since 2001, when 167 fillies were made eligible for the Kentucky Derby eve race.

Rags to Riches, a daughter of A.P. Indy and half-sister to 2006 Belmont Stakes (GI) winner Jazil, justified her $1.9-million yearling purchase price when she defeated a strong field to make the Las Virgenes her second win in three career starts. One of 14 nominees trained by Todd Pletcher, Rags to Riches could add a second Kentucky Oaks trophy to the trainer’s collection. Pletcher won the race in 2004 with Ashado.

Dreaming Of Anna, a daughter of Rahy trained by Wayne Catalano, could become only the third winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to win the Kentucky Oaks. Both of the previous fillies to accomplish that feat – Eugene Klein’s Open Mind in 1989 and Mike Pegram’s Silverbulletday in 1999 – won both races at Churchill Downs. Earl Scheib’s Fran’s Valentine, winner of the 1995 Kentucky Oaks, finished first in both races, but was disqualified from her victory in the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in 1984 and placed 10th. Calabrese’s filly would be the first 2-year-old filly champion to win the Oaks since Silverbulletday.

Other accomplished members of this year’s crop of 3-year-old fillies that were nominated to the Kentucky Oaks include the Todd Pletcher-trained duo of Starlight Stable and Donald Lucarelli’s Octave and Dogwood Stable’s Cotton Blossom, the 2-3 finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; Heiligbrodt Racing’s Appealing Zophie, winner of the Spinaway (GI) and the recent Silverbulletday (GIII) at the Fair Grounds; Phipps Stable’s Boca Grande, winner of the Demoiselle (GII); Jack Hodge Jr. and Stonerside Stables Sutra, winner of the Frizette (GI); Santa Ysabel (GIII) winner and Las Virgenes runner-up Baroness Thatcher; J. Paul Reddam’s Cash Included, winner of the Oak Leaf Breeders’ Cup (GI) at Santa Anita; Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein’s Get Ready Bertie, the Demoiselle runner-up and winner of the Fair Grounds’ Tiffany Lass; Edward P. Evans’ Davona Dale (GII) and Tropical Park Oaks winner Christmas Kid; West Point Thoroughbreds’ and Lewis G. Lakin’s Dream Rush, the upset winner over Dreaming of Anna in the Old Hat (GIII); and Sunshine Million Oaks winner Mistical Plan.

Winners and major contenders in the Kentucky Oaks have dominated the Eclipse Award competition that honors America’s top 3-year-old filly over the past decade, and in recent years has become the most coveted race in the that division. Arindel Farm’s Wait A While, who earned an Eclipse Award as the champion filly of 2006, finished fourth to Lemons Forever in last year’s renewal Oaks and was moved up to third via the disqualification of Bushfire, the original third-place finisher. Other 3-year-old filly champions to compete in the Kentucky Oaks during the past decade include Oaks winners Ashado (2004), Bird Town (2003), Farda Amiga (2002), and Silverbulletday (1999). Banshee Breeze, the 3-year-old filly champion of 1998, finished second to Keeper Hill in that year’s Kentucky Oaks.

Supplemental nominations will be accepted to the Kentucky Oaks. Those nominations must be made at the time of entry on Tuesday, May 1, and accompanied by a payment of $25,000, or five percent of the purse. The Kentucky Oaks is limited to 14 starters with preference to fillies with the highest earnings in graded stakes races.

The Kentucky Oaks headlines a day of racing at Churchill Downs that features six stakes races with total purses of $1.35 million. The 133rd Kentucky Oaks will be broadcast live to an international audience on ESPN.

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 2007. The track’s 2007 Spring Meet is set for April 28 through July 8. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record six times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

<< Back to News